''This might be my last time playing here": Andy Murray withdraws from Canadian Open due to abdominal issue

Britain’s three-time Grand Slam champion, Andy Murray was forced to withdraw from the Canadian Open.

After nearly five hours on court in his first two wins against Lorenzo Sonego and Max Purcell, the Briton withdrew with an abdominal injury ahead of his match on Thursday evening against Jannik Sinner.

"I have an issue with my abdominal so unfortunately I'm not going to be able to play this evening. I'm really sorry. I feel like I've let you down. I've rarely been in this situation in my career and I feel terrible," ATP.com quoted Murray as saying, addressing the stadium crowd.

The former World No. 1 has only given up a walkover seven times in his entire career. The 36-year-old, a three-time ATP Masters 1000 champion in Canada (2009, 2010, 2015), was especially disappointed because this could be his final visit to Toronto. He was aiming for his first quarter-final at the event since his title run in 2015, as well as his first Masters quarter-final since winning the Paris crown in 2016.

"I don't know, this might be my last time playing here as well. So to finish like this feels rubbish," Murray said before thanking the Canadian fans for their support over the years. Murray also took time to sign autographs before leaving the court.

Murray is up four places to No. 36 in the ATP Live Rankings behind his two wins this week — his highest mark since 2018— and is hopeful for a speedy recovery with Cincinnati and the US Open around the corner.

"I had a very similar issue last year in Stuttgart before Wimbledon, which forced me to miss the Queen's Club tournament. I was able to play Wimbledon. It took me about 10-12 days before I was feeling good again," he recalled.

"This is not as bad as that but obviously the danger if you compete and play is you could make it worse. I'll need to see how it develops over the coming days and hopefully feel better in a few days," Murray added.

Sinner qualified for the quarter-finals against Gael Monfils on Friday, moving above Andrey Rublev in the ATP Live Race To Turin.